Upon joining the Miami Heat, LeBron James infamously declared that his new team would win not one.. not two.. but as many as eight NBA titles. The Heat then became arguably the most scrutinized team in the history of professional sports... for an entire season. For many fans and media members, the presumptive arrogance was a sin even more objectionable than the franchise's stockpiling of talent. So, it's no surprise that Philadelphia Eagles have ended up facing a large amount of criticism from week to week ever since a player on the team dubbed the squad as a "Dream Team" during the offseason.
Following Philadelphia's loss to Buffalo in Week 5, which dropped the Eagles to 1-4, Sports Illustrated's Peter King wrote and then tweeted the Eagles were "sloppy and dumb."
Eagles quarterback Michael Vick took exception to that comment and responded on Wednesday.
"Dumb and sloppy? I don't even have a comment on that. Unless you played this game, I don't even think you can make comments like that," he said (Via Buzz On Broad)
Despite having never played a down in the NFL, King may have a point here as the Eagles' nightmare start has been punctuated by sloppy miscues, including Ronnie Brown's ill-fated pitch in the shadow of the end zone against the 49ers. Before their loss to the Bills, the Eagles lost three straight games in which they held a lead in the fourth quarter. Vick already has more interceptions through the first five weeks than he did throughout all of last season (but that might not be entirely his fault). King's comment was likely inspired by the Eagles' defense jumping offsides on fourth-and-inches with 1:23 left in the game on Sunday, a mistake that ended the game.
Considering the trouble that they are having on the field, the Eagles need to brush comments like these aside quickly if they're gong to turn around their season. Vick in particular, has had a tough time shrugging off some questions he doesn't like. A week after complaining about not getting the same calls as other quarterbacks, Vick expressed his frustration when asked how he was feeling after the Eagles lost their third straight game.
"Do I really have to explain that? Do I really have to explain how I'm feeling right now at 1-3? Do I really have to explain that to everyone here?" he said.
Needless to say, Vick felt even worse after his team fell to 1-4.